


He Didn't Let Go

by fyeahimking



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, I'm sorry if it sucks, M/M, Young, hand holding, i don't fucking know, movies - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4288083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyeahimking/pseuds/fyeahimking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jude is on a date with Connor but he doesn't realise it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Didn't Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to take a break from my College AU so I randomly picked a scene out of my list and this is what happened. There's a second part, kind of, that I may post later on if anyone likes this. I don't know what else to say, sorry if it sucks. 
> 
> Edit: I guess I should also mention that when I wrote this I was envisioning them as like 15 or 16. In my head it only really matters in the second piece, not that it's that risque or anything like that, I'm just kind of uncomfortable writing them as younger. I'll always mention ages somewhere just so everyone reading is aware. 
> 
> 7-16-16 Edit: The second part is here now.
> 
> 3/7/17 Edit: this has taken me too long to get to (it's been on a very long to do list) but the second part is here, it's the part of the story that's after the break. it was originally a second chapter but I didn't like it all that much.

It was a quiet walk to the theater. Jude kept running the directions through his mind, getting them confused. Eventually he put his headphones in and let the lyrics of The Smiths roll through his head. He got to the theater with ten minutes to spare and sat down on one of the benches out front, waiting for his friends. 

Connor had invited him to the movies a few days before and while Jude wanted to go he had to fight his impulse to refuse. He still liked spending time with Connor, mostly, but since he'd gone out with Daria (and Jude had assumed that they were together) it was a little bit harder to be happy being around him. He didn't like hanging out with the two of them and he didn't like going on group dates, especially since he didn't like Taylor the way Daria wanted him to. And, to be fair, Taylor didn't like Jude the way she felt she was supposed to. Just thinking about these things made him uncomfortable and he realized the mistake he'd made in agreeing to come here. 

_How stupid are you?_ he was asking himself just as Connor walked up. He wore black jeans and a purple long-sleeved shirt. His hair was messy, as though Connor had been running his fingers through the blonde locks repeatedly, but Jude enjoyed it. _You look nice_ , Jude wanted to say, but he wouldn't dare let those words pass his lips. He was too busy thinking and almost missed when Connor greeted him. “Hey. You ready?”

Jude nodded quietly, turning off his music and following Connor inside. “Are the girls already here?” he asked, tucking his phone inside of his pocket. Connor's cheeks colored and Jude thought he saw him nod. Jude strayed to the side as Connor bought tickets. He didn't catch to what, too busy focusing on the fact that Connor had only bought two. Wouldn't they need four? 

Jude gave him a weird look on their way in, which Connor saw but chose to ignore. “Do you want anything?” Connor asked as they walked up to the snack counter. Jude shook his head no but Connor ordered him a drink anyway. He led the way to the theater, completely refusing to meet Jude's eye. He didn't stop at the bottom of the stairs to find someone, nor did Jude see anyone wave. Connor pointed at the top row of mostly empty seats before heading up the stairs. There were two girls on one end, the screens of their phones lighting up their faces as they giggled and a guy in a hoodie on the other. Connor took one of the seats directly in the middle of the theater and Jude took the one to his left.

He wanted to say something, wanted to let one of the thousands of questions swimming in his head roll off of his tongue, wanted to find an answer. Where were the girls? Why hadn't Connor said anything about it? What happened to his dad not wanting him around Jude alone?

Thirty minutes into the movie and most of the city is on fire. Jude still doesn't know what the movie is or much of anything about it's plot. Mostly because he's been thinking about Connor and wondering what was going on. Connor, on the other hand, seemed to be engrossed in the movie. Jude hadn't seen Connor's random glances over at him or the little smiles he'd been pressing into his shoulder. 

Twenty minutes later, when Jude pulls his legs up under him and lays his arms on the arm rests, Connor sees an opportunity. He lies his arm on the arm rest as well, lining it up with Jude's. He watched Jude look at him out of the corner of his eye but he said nothing, continuing to watch the movie with a confused look on his face. Jude's hand was lying palm up and Connor slowly placed his palm against Jude's, trying to interlock their fingers. Jude heard Connor's breathing stop and when he looked over, Connor was staring resolutely at the screen but he wasn't really paying attention to the movie.

His breathing started again when Jude pressed back, tightening his hand around Connor's. Jude saw the smile spread slowly across Connor's face and it made his heart thump unevenly in his chest. They both stared at the screen but only thought of each other.

\+ + + + + + + +

 

Connor held his hand as they walked out of the theater together. Jude watched him from the corner of his eye, waiting for a scared expression, waiting for Connor to look around, to try to find the people giving them weird looks. He waited for Connor to let go of his hand and tried to convince himself he could handle it. _You can handle it, you can handle it, you can handle it._ The words played on repeat in his head and he couldn't even put headphones in to force the phrase out. Jude seemed to have lost his voice but the one in his head was screaming.

He didn't let go. 

Connor walked him home. Jude didn't know why and he didn't ask, deciding that he'd accept whatever it was that Connor was offering because at least he wasn't being secretive about it. He had held Jude's hand out of the movie theater and all the way to the entrance, then he held it a little tighter on the walk back to Jude's house. Jude saw the guy in the ticket booth give them a weird look but Connor didn't seem to. Or, if he did, he didn't react to it.

When they got to Jude's house Connor didn't say goodbye. Instead he led Jude to the swing on the front porch and they sat down. Jude sat cross-legged, facing Connor, who still had his hand, now held between his.

With Connor playing with his fingers, Jude finally found his voice. “Was this supposed to be a date?” he tried to convince himself that he could handle Connor's reaction, but he knew he was lying. He knew that once Connor rejected him he'd have a solid three minutes before he fell apart, which meant he'd have to get Connor to leave by then. One hundred and eighty seconds, he had to make it, he couldn't let Connor see him break, he wouldn't. 

But Connor's cheeks colored again and he smiled, staring at the front door. “Maybe.”

Jude's heart was beating faster than he'd ever thought possible. It almost hurt. “Do...do you....like me?”

“Of course I do.” 

Connor answered too quickly for Jude to believe that he'd understood. “Do you...like me....you know, like that?”

Connor looked over at him now, his eyes shining. “Yeah, I do.” he whispered. Jude could feel Connor inching closer and he met him in the middle, pressing his lips to Connor's. It was soft and sweet, somehow chaste and passionate at the same time and it ended before Connor wanted it to. 

Jude pulled away slightly and Connor kissed his jaw, down his neck, onto his shoulder. Connor smiled, pressing his upturned lips into the soft fabric of Jude's shirt, twisting his arms around the smaller boys waist. He let out a little breath, releasing the last of the panic he'd been holding. “Do you want to go out sometime?”

Jude let out a breathy laugh and smiled, “Yeah, it'll be nice to actually know I'm on a date.”


End file.
